System and method for adaptively controlling the recording of program material using a program guide

ABSTRACT

In response to the establishment of a communication connection between an appliance capable of effecting a recording of a program and a portable device capable of displaying to a user in a display of the portable device a program guide including a listing for the program the appliance capable of effecting the recording of the program receives data indicative of a request to record the program that is stored in a memory of the portable device via user interaction with the program guide prior to establishment of the communication connection and the appliance capable of effecting the recording of the program then functions to record the program in accordance with the received data indicative of the request to record the program.

RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/939,821 (U.S. Publication No. 2005/0055716), filed on Sep. 13, 2004,which application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/287,411 (U.S. Publication No. 2003/0193519—now U.S. Pat. No.7,254,777), filed on Nov. 4, 2002, which in turn claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/372,874, filed on Apr. 15,2002, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention generally relates to electronic portable electronicdevices having a display and communication capabilities, and used inconjunction with a network of entertainment recording and renderingdevices. Exemplary portable devices include personal digital assistants(“PDAs”), Web Tablets, touch screen remote controls, lap-top computers,and the like. Exemplary entertainment recording and rendering devicesinclude personal computers, digital video recorders (“DVRs,” also knownas “personal video recorders” or “PVRs”), conventional video cassetterecorders (“VCRs”), television monitors, digital or analog audioreproduction equipment, and the like.

In the art it is known to provide a program guide feature whereby datarelating to current and/or future programming (television, radio,Internet, or the like) is downloaded into a portable device and storedfor later browsing by the user. It is also known to equip such portabledevices with the ability to transmit remote control signals (usinginfrared (“IR”) or radio frequency (“RF”) transmissions) to changechannels on a tuning device in response to selection by a consumer of adisplayed guide entry. Where program guide data is presented not on theportable device but rather on the TV set of a user, the programinformation being supplied by a tuning device such as a cable orsatellite set-top box, it is also know to provide a feature whereby userselection of a program item which is scheduled to be shown sometime inthe future results in the automatic recording of that program. This typeof automated recording is accomplished using capabilities that arebuilt-in to the appliance, for example, the capabilities offered byTiVO, Replay TV, Ultimate TV, Microsoft Windows Media Center Editionsoftware installed on a personal computer, and others or, for example,by control of the consumer's VCR via an “IR blaster.”

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with the description that follows, a system and method isprovided for controlling the recording functionality of an applianceusing an electronic program guide displayed on an electronic portabledevice. As will be appreciated, providing this functionality to aportable device overcomes the disadvantages seen in the prior artresulting from the fact that a consumer user is not necessarily in frontof their recording appliance when browsing the program guideinformation. Rather, the consumer may be in another room, anotherbuilding (e.g., at work), or even in another city. Furthermore, thelocation at which the consumer ultimately wishes to enjoy playback ofthe previously recorded program item may vary depending on the time ofday, travel schedule, calendar date, or various other factors—onceagain, the consumer may be in another room, another building, or even inanother city. A system and method for displaying an electronic programguide (“EPG”) is disclosed, the EPG allowing for the controlling ofrecording functionality of an appliance and/or playing of media. Thedisplayable EPG includes a listing of playable media from which the usermay select a program of interest for recording or playback. The EPG mayalso include a display of prior recorded media for playback. Options maybe presented to allow for a selection of a rendering device on whichselected media is to be played.

To overcome the above described problem, the system and method describedhereinafter will accept the consumer's recording requests, store them,and automatically convey them to an appropriately located targetrecording apparatus at a later time when the portable device is able tocommunicate with the recording appliance. The communication may take theform of docking the portable device with a computer that shares a homenetwork with a network-enabled appliance. e.g., a PVR such asSonicblue's ReplayTV 4000 brand system or a personal computer runningMicrosoft Windows Media Center Edition software (in this context it willbe understood that the computer to which the portable device is dockedand the computer upon which the Media Center is implemented may be oneand the same); via wireless communication over a Personal Area Networkor Local Area Network implemented in the consumer's home, office, or apublic location (e.g. airport, coffee shop, etc.) using, for example,Bluetooth or IEEE 802.11 networking, or via direct interaction with asuitably-equipped target appliance once the portable device and theappliance are in communication range. This communication may also occurin any of the manners described above but using the Internet or PSTN asan intermediary. In this manner, the system and method describedhereinafter provides a consumer with the ability to browse and selectprogram material at any location for future recording at one of severalpossible storage locations and have these requests automatically enteredinto the appropriate recording apparatus at some later time when hisportable device finds itself able to establish communications with thetarget recording apparatus. Furthermore, the electronic program guidemay also display a listing of prior recorded and/or stored (e.g.digitally downloaded media files, files encoded from CDs or DVDs, filescreated by a user, etc) media and options may be presented to allow fora selection of a rendering device on which selected media, includingprior recorded and/or stored media, is to be played. It will thus beunderstood that in the context of the below detailed description andclaims, “programming” and/or “program” may be any type of recorded orstored media, including media recorded, downloaded, encoded, created,etc. by a user without limitation.

A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features, propertiesand relationships of the invention will be obtained from the followingdetailed description and accompanying drawings which set forthillustrative embodiments which are indicative of the various ways inwhich the principles of the invention may be employed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Described hereinafter are examples of systems and methods for adaptivelycontrolling the recording of program material using a program guide, thedescriptions making reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary portable device having a remote controlapplication for use in controlling the operation of home appliances;

FIG. 2 illustrates exemplary screen shots of a graphical user interfaceof the portable device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary network by which program guideinformation is downloadable to the portable device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 illustrates a more detailed view of the network illustrated inFIG. 3 together with the user's home network;

FIG. 5 illustrates exemplary screen shots of a graphical user interfaceof the portable device of FIG. 1 specifically illustrating interactionwith the downloaded program guide information to effect automaticprogram recording;

FIG. 6 illustrates exemplary screen shots of a graphical user interfaceof the portable device of FIG. 1 specifically illustrating incorporationand use of listings for previously recorded material into the programguide information display;

FIGS. 7-11 illustrate exemplary networks by which the portable device ofFIG. 1 can be used to automatically enable the recording function of ahome appliance;

FIGS. 12-14 illustrate exemplary registration screens by which theconsumer can specify preferences for a downloaded program guide; and

FIG. 15 illustrates the exemplary provision of a calendar database inthe portable device of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A portable device 10 having a universal remote control and program guideapplication is provided. By way of example, representative platforms forthe device 10 include, but are not limited to, devices such as remotecontrols, lap-top computers, Web Tablets and/or PDAs manufactured byHP/Compaq (such as the iPAQ brand PDA), Palm, Visor, Sony, etc. Thus, apreferred underlying platform includes a processor coupled to a memorysystem comprising a combination of ROM memory, non-volatile read/writememory, and RAM memory (a memory system); a key matrix in the form ofphysical buttons; an internal clock and timer; a transmission circuit; apower supply; a touch screen display to provide visible feedback to andaccept input from a consumer; and I/O circuitry for allowing the deviceto exchange communications with an external computer such as serverand/or client. Additional input circuitry, such as a barcode reader, mayalso be utilized.

To control the operation of the device 10, the memory system includesexecutable instructions that are intended to be executed by theprocessor. In this manner, the processor may be programmed to controlthe various electronic components within the device 10, e.g., to monitorpower, to cause the transmission of signals, etc. Within the memorysystem, the ROM portion of memory is preferably used to store fixedprogramming and data that remains unchanged for the life of the product.The non-volatile read/write memory, which may be FLASH, EEPROM,battery-backed up RAM, “Smart Card,” memory stick, or the like, ispreferably provided to store consumer entered setup data and parameters,downloaded data, etc., as necessary. RAM memory may be used by theprocessor for working storage as well as to hold data items which, byvirtue of being backed up or duplicated on an external computer (forexample, a client device) are not required to survive loss of batterypower. While the described memory system comprises all three classes ofmemory, it will be appreciated that, in general, the memory system canbe comprised of any type of computer-readable media, such as ROM, RAM,SRAM, FLASH, EEPROM, or the like in combination. Preferably, however, atleast part of the memory system should be non-volatile or battery backedsuch that basic setup parameters and operating features will surviveloss of battery power. In addition, such memories may take the form of achip, a hard disk, a magnetic disk, and/or an optical disk withoutlimitation.

For commanding the operation of appliances of different makes, models,and types, the memory system may also include a command code library.The command code library is comprised of a plurality of command codesthat may be transmitted from the device 10 under the direction of theremote control application for the purpose of controlling the operationof an appliance. The memory system may also include instructions whichthe processor uses in connection with the transmission circuit to causethe command codes to be transmitted in a format recognized by anidentified appliance. While the transmission circuit preferably utilizesinfrared transmissions, it will be appreciated that other forms of wiredor wireless transmissions, such as radio frequency, may also be used.Where radio frequency transmission is used, this may take the form ofdirect RF communication with the appliance(s) to be controlled, or maycomprise issuing an RF command to an infrared signaling deviceco-located with the equipment to be controlled, as described for examplein co-pending U.S. Provisional Patent application 60/517,283 entitled“Home Appliance Control System and Methods in a Networked Environment”which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

To identify appliances by type and make (and sometimes model) such thatthe remote control application of the device 10 is adapted to cause thetransmission of command codes in the format appropriate for suchidentified appliances, information may be entered into the device 10.Since methods for setting up a remote control application to cause thetransmissions of commands to control the operation of specificappliances are well-known, they will not be described in greater detailherein. Nevertheless, for additional details pertaining to remotecontrol application setup, the reader may turn to U.S. application Ser.No. 10/288,727 (US 2003/0103088 A1) entitled “User Interface for aRemote Control Device” as well as U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,225,938, 4,623,887,5,872,562, 5,614,906, 4,959,810, 4,774,511, and 4,703,359 all of whichare incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. It should alsobe appreciated that these set-up methods may be used to configure apersonal computer to communicate with a home appliance, for example, ifthe personal computer is anticipated to use communications to commandthe operation of appliances in a home entertainment network such asdescribed below.

To cause the device 10 to perform an action, the device 10 is adapted tobe responsive to events, such as a sensed consumer interaction with oneor more keys on the key matrix, a sensed consumer interaction with thetouch screen display, or a sensed signal from an external source such asa remote computer. In response to an event, appropriate instructionswithin the memory system are executed. For example, when a hard or softcommand key associated with the remote control application is activatedon the device 10, the device 10 may read the command code correspondingto the activated command key from the memory system and transmit thecommand code to an appliance in a format recognizable by the appliance.It will be appreciated that the instructions within the memory systemcan be used not only to cause the transmission of command codes toappliances but also to perform local operations. While not limiting,local operations that may be performed by the device that are related tothe remote control application include favorite channel setup, macrobutton setup, command function key relocation, etc. Examples of suchlocal operations can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,481,256, 5,959,751,6,014,092, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

As discussed, the platform of the device 10 preferably comprises ageneral purpose, processor system which is controllable by software. Thesoftware may include routines, programs, objects, components, and/ordata structures that perform particular tasks that can be viewed as anoperating system together with one or more applications. The operatingsystem, such as the “Windows CE” brand operating system or the like,provides an underlying set of management and control functions which areutilized by applications to offer the consumer functions such ascalendar, address book, spreadsheet, notepad, Internet browsing, etc.,as well as control of appliances. Thus, it is to be understood thatapplications in addition to or complimentary with the remote controlapplication can also be supported by the device 10 and, as such, interms of the internal software architecture, the “remote control”application may be but one of several possible applications which mayco-exist within the device 10.

In terms of providing operating system functionality, it should also beunderstood that the demarcation between the portable device 10 and ahost/client computer, described in greater detail hereinafter, may varyconsiderably from product to product. For example, at one extreme theportable device 10 may be nothing more than a slave display and inputdevice in wireless communication with a computer that performs allcomputational functions. At the other extreme, the portable device 10may be a fully-functional computer system in its own right complete withlocal mass storage. It is also to be appreciated that a hardwareplatform similar to that described above may be used in conjunction witha scaled-down operating system to provide remote control functionalityonly, i.e., as a standalone application. In all cases, however, theprinciples expressed herein remain the same.

To provide a means by which an consumer can interact with the device 10,the device 10 is preferably provided with software that implements agraphical user interface. The graphical user interface software may alsoprovide access to additional software, such as a browser application,that is used to display information that may be received from anexternal computer. Such a graphical user interface system is describedin previously referenced pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/288,727 aswell as in pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/290,605 (US 2003/0095156A1) entitled “Hand Held Remote Control Having an Improved UserInterface” and U.S. Provisional Application 60/264,767 entitled“Universal Remote Control with Display” which are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

For controlling the operation of one or more consumer appliances, suchas, for example, an audio receiver 12, a VCR 14, a television 16, and/ora PVR 60 as illustrated in FIG. 1, the portable device 10 includes aremote control application. Features offered by the remote controlapplication may include a “home page” 20 from which the user may selectvarious functionalities such as, for example, a device control panel 22,a “Favorites” page 24 (which allows direct tuning to favorite programchannels by logo/name), a program guide display 26, etc. as illustratedin FIG. 2. The universal remote control application may also include thecapability to configure multiple rooms, each with distinct equipment,and allow a user to select his current location from a list 28 asillustrated in FIG. 2 d. For a more detailed description of thisfeature, the interested reader may refer to the previously referencedU.S. application Ser. No. 10/288,727. The user's current location mayalternatively be automatically determined using, for example, themethods described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/517,588entitled “System and Method for Controlling Device LocationDetermination” or in U.S. Pat. No. 6,563,430 entitled “Remote ControlDevice with Location Dependent Interface.”

While not intended to be limiting, the program guide display 26 may bearranged in a grid having a plurality of cells in which programminginformation is contained, the grid consisting of cells arranged in rowscorresponding to content providers and columns corresponding to times ofday. For convenience of a user, the program guide display 26 rowindicators may also be formatted using channel names and/or numbers 38,as illustrated in FIG. 2 c or 3, or channel logos 39, as illustrated inFIG. 3. Still further, the row indicators may themselves comprise softkeys or hard keys (collectively referred to as “buttons”) which theconsumer may activate in order to have the device 10 transmit theappropriate remote control command(s) to cause an appliance to tune to achannel corresponding to the labeled button. If used, the channel logographics may be included as part of downloaded program guide data, aswill be described hereinafter, or the graphics may be linked to andderived from the favorite channel display page(s) 24. It will also beappreciated that the program guide display 26 may be arranged innumerical or alphabetical sequence by channel, by favorite channel (inthe same sequence as they appear in a favorite channels page 24), byprogram type or genre, etc.—either automatically or manually by a user.

Data for the program guide display 26 may be obtained over the Internet30 from a program guide database server 32 using a personal computer 34and docking station 36 as illustrated in FIG. 3. In such a system, thedevice 10 is periodically docked with the docking station 36 for filesynchronization purposes. Since software for providing suchsynchronization functionality, e.g., Microsoft's ActiveSync brandsynchronization software, is well known and widely used in PDAapplications, this functionality will not be discussed in further detailherein. It will also be appreciated that while described and illustratedin this instance in terms of a physical docking station 36, suchsynchronization may be equally well performed wirelessly via IEEE 802.11“WiFi”, Bluetooth, etc., when the device 10 and PC 34 are equipped withsuitable RF networking capabilities. Accordingly, throughout thisdocument use of the term “docking” in the context of data transfer orfile synchronization, should be understood to encompass any availableform of connectivity between the PDA 10 and a personal computer 34.

To acquire guide data for use in connection with the remote controlapplication, an exemplary guide data acquisition process is illustratedin FIG. 4. As illustrated, raw program guide data 40 is generallyavailable by subscription from entities such as, for example, TribuneMedia Services (“TMS”). A program guide data server 32 is normallyconfigured to access the TMS data on a periodic basis, typically onceevery 24 hours, after TMS's nightly update is complete. The raw guidedata obtained from TMS may then be formatted and stored into a localdatabase 42 associated with the Web server 32. Additional data, such asgraphics 401, which may be associated with program descriptions, specialservice information, and/or advertising 402 (e.g., pay-per view), etc.may also be obtained from third-party sources and combined into thedatabase 42 for later delivery to system users. It should also beappreciated that, while the illustrated examples are in the context of aTV program database sourced from TMS, in practice the programminginformation stored in the server database 42 may be obtained fromseveral different sources and may span more than one type ofprogramming, for example, radio broadcast information, Webcasts, moviesavailable for download, etc. in addition to or as a substitute for TVschedule information.

To obtain program guide information, a consumer may log onto the Webserver 32 using a personal computer 34 and any standard Web browser suchas, for example, Microsoft's Internet Explorer brand Web browser. TheWeb server 32 identifies the consumer and their preferences via acombination of log-in data stored in a registration database 46 and/or a“cookie” stored on the consumer's local hard drive. Referring to FIGS.12-14, the first time the consumer accesses the Web server 32 they maybe asked to submit information which includes a zip code 120, type ofservice 122 (e.g., cable, satellite, etc.), service provider 130 (e.g.,DirectTV, Cox Cable, etc.) and level of service 140 (e.g., basic,extended basic, premium, etc.). Based on this data, the consumer couldbe presented with a complete channel line-up 144 for their particularservice tier and allowed to select which channels they desire to beincluded in their guide display. Examples of selected and unselectedchannels are shown at 146 and 148, respectively, in FIG. 14.

In addition, the consumer may be requested to indicate how many days ofprogramming information 142 the consumer wishes to download in eachsession. As these latter parameters are changed, an indication of theestimated size of the file to be downloaded may be displayed for theconvenience of the consumer. This is particularly advantageous forconsumers that have slower, dial-up communication lines with the Webserver 32 in that they may trade off the extent of the program guidecontent to download against download time.

The parameters established during this initial interaction with the Webserver 32 may then be stored in the registration database 46 and/orlocally in a cookie and redisplayed whenever the consumer subsequentlyaccesses the site. Thus, during subsequent visits to the Web server 32,the consumer may accept all the parameter values “as is” or make changesas desired. Certain of these parameters may also be accumulated by theWeb server 32 for statistical purposes (e.g., “How many cablesubscribers in Irvine Calif. include MTV in their program guide data?”).While described in terms of a consumer manually accessing the Web server32 using a Web browser to retrieve the guide data, once the initialpreference parameters are obtained the process of downloading programguide data may be automated. For example, the consumer's computer 34 canbe configured to automatically dial out via a PSTN or and/or connect viathe Internet at a fixed time every night, at some predetermined timeinterval, etc. to contact the Web server 32 and retrieve the guide data.

Based on the identity and preferences of a consumer, a Web serverinterface 44 and related data extraction programs, illustrated in FIG.4, extract an appropriate subset of the program guide data stored in thedatabase 42 and format this extracted data into a personal guide datafile 48 for transfer to the consumer's computer 34 via the Internet 30.The transferred guide data file may include program listing informationoriginating from the program guide data provider 40; supplementalgraphics and/or advertising either associated with particular programsor free standing (originating from program graphics provider(s) 401);special channel service information 402 (originating from the serviceprovider of other entities); etc. all of which may be individuallytailored to the consumer based on their specified preferences, servicetype, and/or geographic location. Once located on the consumer'scomputer 34, the file 48 may be supplemented with data 66 a, 66 brepresentative of material available from non-broadcast sources such aslocal or remote personal recording devices 60 and 68, locally residenton PC 34 itself, or available on networked media source devices such aDVD jukebox 70 (as shown in FIG. 7), etc. All of this personalized guidedata contained in file 48 may be automatically transferred to the device10 via the synchronization process the next time the device 10 is dockedwith the computer 34.

The channel guide data downloaded to the portable device 10 may includepanels (individual entries), rows (horizontally across the time axis),and/or columns (vertically along the channel axis) and may includeadvertising or other information interspersed within or overlaying thepanels. As noted, advertising or other information data may be insertedby the data extraction program of the Web server 32 based on thepreferences of a consumer, the specified service type, the geographiclocation of the user, and/or data that the service provider desires theconsumer to be exposed to. Turning now to FIG. 5, the program guidedisplay 26 may be configured such that, if the consumer touches aparticular guide listing, e.g., “Friends,” a pop-up window 50 displaysadditional information regarding the program. The pop-up window 50 mayinclude extended information 57 regarding the program and, in someembodiments, may include supplemental graphics 58 which originated fromsources (401, 402) other than the provider of the raw guide data 40. Thepop-up window 50 may also include check boxes, or other graphical userinterface elements, such as menus or the like, to accept user input. Inthe illustrated example, a check box 52 and a check box 54, which can beselected using conventional GUI techniques, allow the consumer to eithertag the program event for future recording or to create a reminder entryin a calendar application resident on the device 10 and/or computer 34.

By way of example, touching the “Record” check box 52 causes the dataregarding this program event (time, channel, duration, etc.) to beentered into a recording schedule data file 62 (shown in FIG. 4) locatedwithin the device 10. In certain embodiments, multiple recordingappliances may be supported. To this end, if the recording schedulingapplication is aware of multiple recording appliances at differentlocations each capable of serving as a repository for the requestedprogram, for example PVRs 60,68 and/or PC 34 of FIG. 4, device 10 may atthis point present the user with a list of possibilities, for examplethe pop-up 500 illustrated in FIG. 5. This list may be presented as aroster of specific equipments, or may be arranged for greater userconvenience by room or geographic location as illustrated in FIG. 5. Theillustrated pop-up menu 500 allows the user to specify the preferredlocation or appliance at which he intends to later view the recordedmaterial, for example “Family Room,” although, as will be describedlater this choice may be revised at playback time. The choices presentedmay also include an “automatic” option 502 which may for example defaultto the user's current location, or alternatively may be synchronized toa calendar application as described in more detail hereafter. Once alocation has been selected (or if only one exists), to confirm theacceptance of the recording request in the data file 62, the appearanceof the check box 52 may be caused to change 56. The device 10 may alsoperform conflict resolution (e.g., to determine if there are anyoverlapping requests) interactively at this level, or may simply storeall requests for later resolution by the recording device. If multiplerecording appliances are available and a conflict is discovered, thedevice 10 and/or software in the PC 34 may redirect the recordingrequest to an alternate recording appliance. It will also be appreciatedthat the data regarding the program event may be stored as describedabove (date, time, channel, recording location) using one or morecompressed forms, as pointers into guide database entries in the eventthe target recording appliance and the portable device 10 use a commondata source for guide information, etc. It is also desired to allow theconsumer to remove recording request data from the file for example, byreturning to a program listing and un-checking the box 52.

As is known in the art, portable device 10 may include othercapabilities besides the universal remote control and program guide. Inparticular, a calendar or scheduling application may be supported, suchas for example is provided as part of Microsoft's Pocket PC softwaresuite. It will also be understood that the calendar or schedulingapplication, and/or data from such calendar or scheduling application(s)need only be available to a recording scheduling application asdescribed herein, and need not be resident in the memory of portabledevice 10 in order to accomplish the inventive system and method. Thebasic functioning of such calendar applications is well know and willnot be discussed in further detail herein, however for additionalinsight into the uses of such calendar applications in conjunction withTV guides, etc., the reader is referred to co-pending U.S. applicationSer. No. 10/287,337 (US 2003/0048295 A1) entitled “System and Method forUpdating Information in a Portable Electronic Device” which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

Turning now to FIG. 15, a TV guide display and recording schedulingapplication 150 provided as part of the universal remote control featurepreviously described may cooperate with such a calendar application 154in order to ascertain a user's planned future locations as one method ofimplementing an automatic option 502 for the recording location choice.Furthermore, exemplary calendar application 154 may periodicallysynchronize it's data 152 with calendar data 158 resident in PC 34, forexample that of Microsoft's Outlook application. In the event changesare detected in a user's schedule, calendar application 154 may conveythese to recording scheduling application 150 which can then make anynecessary adjustments to the target recording appliances in recordingschedule data 62. It should be appreciated that this coordination andadjustment process, while described in terms of actions within portabledevice 10 may alternatively be performed within PC 34 with equalefficiency. It will also be understood and appreciated that the passingand exchange of data between the recording scheduling application andcalendar application (or other traditional computing applications) inorder to facilitate the inventive system and method described herein maybe accomplished via a variety of known programming methods (for exampleXML based data exchange methods, or the data exchange capabilitiesprovided by Microsoft's COM, DCOM, or .NET technologies) which are wellwithin the ordinary abilities of one skilled in the art.

Returning now to FIG. 4, the consumer's computer 34 may also beconnected to a home network 64 which may be wired or wireless. In such acase, also attached to the home network may be one or morenetwork-enabled appliances, for example, a ReplayTV brand personal videorecorder (“PVR”), a network capable DVD jukebox, a media serverapplication resident on PC 34, etc. When the portable device 10 isdocked with the computer 34 for file synchronization, not only is anyupdated guide data 48 transferred from the computer to the device 10,but the contents of the recording schedule request file 62 could betransferred from the device 10 to the computer 34. The appropriateportions 62 a, 62 b of recording request data 62 can then be transferredfrom the computer 34 to PVRs 60, 68 via the home network 64 or Internet30. In this manner, a consumer may browse a device-based program guideand enter recording requests wherever the consumer happens to be locatedand these requests will be logged and automatically transferred to therecording appliance at a later time.

To facilitate user's access to previously recorded and stored material,TV guide data 48 may be supplemented by listings of material availablefrom non-broadcast sources such as local or remote personal recordingdevices 60 and 68, locally resident on PC 34 itself, or available onnetworked media source devices such a DVD jukebox 70, as describedearlier. The data may be collected from the various devices by pollingthe devices, either directly or via a network gateway, to determine whatprograms are stored on the devices. To this end, the polling may be userinitiated and/or automatically performed, for example, automatically inresponse to a request to display an EPG. The data returned may belimited to programs of a certain type, for example, data indicative ofrecorded/stored audio visual programs or data indicative of audioprograms alone may be returned. Such polling may utilize file typeextensions, e.g., “.mpg,” “.jpg,” “.wav,” etc., in the process ofgathering information pertaining to recorded/stored programs. Thepolling may also utilize information stored within headers of thestored/recorded programs as a means to filter which information isreturned. The type of data to be returned may be user settable or may beautomated, for example, being dependent upon the type, genre, etc. ofthe information to be displayed within the EPG.

FIG. 6 illustrates how such data may be presented to a user as anextension 600 of the TV guide data display or separate. In the exampleillustrated, these entries are appended en bloc to the end of the guidedata, accessible by moving slider 602 all the way to the bottom asshown. Other arrangements are also possible, e.g. presenting items bothbroadcast and prerecorded sorted by genre, user favorites, etc. Theillustrated display includes listings 604 a of content available on PVRappliances as well as listings 604 b for content available from mediaserver applications on PC 34 and a listing 604 c for content availableon a networked DVD jukebox. Selection of content for playback may beperformed by tapping on the desired item, e.g., as illustrated at 606.Once the item is selected, a pop-up menu 608 may be presented from whichthe user may select the desired location or rendering appliance forplayback. Once again, one choice 610 may comprise an automatic modewhereby the default may be the location specified at the time therecording was scheduled (in the case of PVR-based content), may be theuser's current location (as determined by device 10), may be the closestlocation at which an appliance capable of rendering the selectedmaterial is available (e.g. an HDTV monitor), may depend on time of dayand/or day of week, etc. The selection amongst those possibilities maybe user-configurable or may itself be automatically determined via aprioritization algorithm, e.g. first choice is user's current locationprovided a suitable rendering appliance is available, second choice islocation of original recording, etc.

FIGS. 7 through 11 show various embodiments of networks employing thisprinciple. In FIG. 7, the device 10 is in wireless communication withthe computer 34, for example, as part of an IEEE 802.11 WiFi network.Alternatively, a Bluetooth personal area network may be used where thedevice 10 becomes active when brought into the house. FIG. 7 illustrateshow such a network may include multiple appliances serving as contentsources such as local PVRs local 60 a, 60 b, a remote PVR 68 (forexample at a user's office or vacation home), the PC itself 34, or a DVDjukebox 70. The network of FIG. 7 also includes multiple renderingdevices 16, some associated with PVRs 60 or 68, and others directlyattached for example via a network video adapter 72. FIG. 8 shows howthe device 10 may be docked at a remote computer 80 (e.g. in theconsumer's office) which acquires the recording schedule request dataand transfers it via the Internet 30 to the consumer's home computer 34where it is processed as described previously (for clarity, the rest ofthe network associated with the home computer 34, assumed similar tothat of FIG. 7 is not repeated in FIGS. 8 and 9). FIG. 9 shows a similararrangement except that in this case the office system includes awireless Internet gateway device 90 which is used by the device 10 todirectly transfer the recording schedule request data to the Internet 30and thereby to the computer 34. FIG. 10 shows an arrangement in whichboth ends are equipped with wireless Internet gateways and the device 10transfers the recording schedule request data directly to a recordingappliance 60 which itself serves as an interface into the rest of thehome network. Still further, FIG. 11 shows a system in which device 10communicates directly via a wireless link with a recording appliance 60.In this case, the device 10 transfers the recording schedule requestdata directly to the recording appliance 60 when it is brought intoproximity to the recording appliance 60, using either infrared or RFwireless communication. Transfer in this case may be manually initiatedby the consumer, triggered automatically (for example, by the device 10sensing it has been brought into range of a Bluetooth personal areanetwork of which the recording appliance 60 is also a member), may beautomatically initiated at a user-selected fixed time each day, etc.Once again, recording appliance 60 may serve as an interface or gatewayinto the rest of the home network.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been described indetail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and alternatives to those details could be developed inlight of the overall teachings of the disclosure. For example, it willbe appreciated that while a PVR was utilized in the illustrative exampleset forth above, in fact any appliance capable of recording programmaterial, including the computer itself, may be scheduled in thismanner. In addition, it will be appreciated that the device can be setupsuch that an indication to a record a program can be accomplished byallowing a consumer to directly select a program from the guide withoutthe need for providing a pop-up window or additional graphical userinterface selection elements. Accordingly, the particular arrangementdisclosed is meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to thescope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of theappended claims and any equivalents thereof. All of the references citedherein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

1. A method for enabling a user to effect a recording of a program, the method comprising: establishing a communication connection between an appliance capable of effecting the recording of the program and a portable device capable of displaying to a user in a display of the portable device a program guide including a listing for the program; in response to the communication connection being established, receiving at the appliance capable of effecting the recording of the program via the communication connection data indicative of a request to record the program that is stored in a memory of the portable device via user interaction with the program guide prior to establishment of the communication connection; and causing the appliance capable of effecting the recording of the program to record the program in accordance with the received data indicative of the request to record the program.
 2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the communication connection is indirectly established between the appliance capable of effecting the recording of the program and the portable device via an intermediate computing device.
 3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the communication connection is established directly between the appliance capable of effecting the recording of the program and the portable device.
 4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the communication connection between the appliance capable of effecting the recording of the program and the portable device comprises a wireless communication connection.
 5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the wireless communication connection utilizes RF transmissions.
 6. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein the wireless communication connection utilizes IR transmissions.
 7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the appliance capable of effecting the recording of the program comprises an appliance adapted to record the program on a magnetic storage medium.
 8. A readable media in an appliance having stored thereon instructions executable by a processor for enabling a user to effect recording of a program, the instructions performing steps comprising: establishing a communication connection with a portable device capable of displaying to a user in a display of the portable device a program guide including a listing for the program; receiving via the communication connection data indicative of a request to record the program that is stored in a memory of the portable device via user interaction with the program guide prior to establishment of the communication connection; and causing the program to be locally recorded in accordance with the received data indicative of the request to record the program.
 9. The readable media as recited in claim 8, wherein the communication connection is indirectly established between the appliance and the portable device via an intermediate computing device.
 10. The readable media as recited in claim 9, wherein the intermediate computing device comprises a personal computer.
 11. The readable media as recited in claim 9, wherein the intermediate computing device comprises an Internet gateway device.
 12. The readable media as recited in claim 8, wherein the communication connection is established directly between the appliance and the portable device.
 13. The readable media as recited in claim 12, wherein the communication connection between the appliance and the portable device comprises a wireless communication connection.
 14. The readable media as recited in claim 13, wherein the wireless communication connection utilizes RF transmissions.
 15. The storage media as recited in claim 13, wherein the wireless communication connection utilizes IR transmissions.
 16. The storage media as recited in claim 1, wherein the appliance locally records the program on a magnetic storage medium. 